Huelva Things to Do

Next to the Queen's pier in Palos de la Frontera, close to La Rabida, is a monument to the PLus Ultra, name of the hydroplane that made for the first time in history the trip between Europe and America. It left the Calzadilla pier, on the edge of Palos de la Frontera, January 22th 1926. Given by the Argentina's government, the monument represents Icaro and commemorates Atlantic trip across the ocean, from Palos to America. The crew: Commander of Infantry D. Frank Ramon Bahamonde, commander of the Plus Ultra, Lieutenant D. Juan Manuel Duran Gonzalez, pilot of the PLus Ultra, Captain of Artillery, D. Julio Ruiz de Alda, 2º pilot of the hydroplane and mechanical Soldier D. Pablo Ustarroz Road, mechanic.

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The Muelle de las Carabelas, "The Caravels pier" invites you to a stroll through Colombus' history. Located a few kilometers from Huelva, the place that served as departure point to the intrepid navigator Christopher Colombus. Colombus' ships were reproduced for the 500th anniversary of America's discovery. The Caravels pier consists in a lobby where different areas of the province of Huelva are represented through attractive images; an audio-visual room, with a capacity of 120 people for whom a interesting recreation projection of Colombus' voyage is offered; a permanent exhibition on the 15th century including key documents of the Colombus project such as navigation instruments, journals, arms, ceramics, carpentry tools, engravings and suits, all allowing a good idea of how life was then; a 15th century pier recreation with large barrels, carts, a well and animals enclosures, idealy inviting to walk and contemplate the ships with a nice perspective and last but not least, the pier itself, a semicircular man-made lake where the ships are located arranged with various figures and elements: the Santa Maria which was one of the galleon destined to carry the heavy loads along with 40 sailors and the Nina and the Pinta smaller vessels that carried 25 men each.

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This area has been populated since the Bronze Age. Of the Roman times, only the ruins of a forteress are left. During the 13th century, Sancho II of Portugal conquered it from the Arabs but ended up yielding it to the Order of Santiago. Later, through the treaty of Badajoz, when Alfonso XI accessed to the crown of Castilla, it was again given to the Niebla county. In 1664, Felipe IV was granted the title of the little city. Until 1992, the only way for people and vehicules between Spain and Portugal was the ferry. It was that year that the bridge united both nations as no longer was the ferry needed, nor was it mandatory to pass through Ayamonte's pier to acces Spain from Portugal although, the ferry continues to cross over hundreds of people and cars everyday. Ayamonte counts a little over 17 000 inhabitants and some of Huelva's best known beaches: Isla Christina and Isla Canela are the most famous for a day in the sun, while Punta del Moral is an interesting visit for its Roman Mausoleum. Being separated from Portugal only by the Guadiana river, Ayamonte is ideal for visiting with the Portuguese neighbours of Vilareal de Santo Antonio, shop the streets and markets, have great tapas and enjoy stricking views of the river, the bridge and the Altantic ocean. Ayamontinos' patronne is la Virgen de las Angustias, the Virgin of Angst whom they celebrate with great processions and fiestas around September 6th, 7th and 8th. Many of the town's churches are worth a visit such as Iglesia de Nostra Senora de las Angustias dating the 16th century, Iglesia de San Francisco also dating the 16th century and Iglesia del Convento de la Merced dating the 15th century.

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The major attraction of the Mines is touring them abord an old 20th century restaured mining train, a spectacular adventure that allows contemplation of unusual landscapes, while riding a distance of 11 km until "the Friars" station. The restaured train, runs parallel to the Tinto river a world unique ecosystem along the railway line, constructed in 1873 by RED the English company Rio Company Ltd. which sent off minerals from the mines to be transported to Huelva's port. Closed in February of 1984 the mines still offer a touristic train ride which runs regularly during the summer months while the oldest 1875 Spanish steam train is used on special occasions. To be as faithful as possible to the old days, wooden wagon seats were raised and the suspension of the train stayed untouched, jumping and wobbling all the way making it very hard to film or take pictures of the extremely strange landscape. Information abord the train, on history, flora, fauna, unicellular life forms of the river and such, is unfortunatly provided only in Spanish. Running through hills and slopes, woodsy decors and rocky cliffs the strangest feelings of being part of thousands of men's work is worth the ticket.

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Visiting the Rio Tinto mines is an unforgettable experience, and is an excellent way to spend a day when touring the countryside around Sevilla or Huelva. Accessed through the Minas de Rio Tinto town, about an hour's drive away from the abovementioned cities, here, we can see what 150 years of intensive extraction of mineral wealth has done to alter the environment in a very dramatic way, in what is known to be the oldest miine in the world.

In ancient times, tales of the wealth to be found in the Iberian peninsula drew the Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks and other invaders to this area, and led to the control of these mines by the succession of rulers. The wealth was so great that it was known to be the fabled King Solomon's mines, and in fact, two towns nearby are to this day named after the biblical king, Zalamea.

It is possible to visit this environment, considered to be one of the most unique in the world, and see the river that bears this name, and the surreal landscape. The Mining Railway Tour goes twice a day for a 1.5 hour trip through this fantastic landscape. The rail carriages are the 100-year old wooden carriages used by the workers in the old times to go travel between their hamlets and towns to the mines.

In my photos are shown some of the views that can be seen, many of them looking like scenes from another planet, with the giant craters, giant slag heaps, yellow hills (the sulphuric content here is the highest in the world), the reddish, yellowish walls, the blood-red river passing in its midst, and the gigantic facilities heavily rusted and abandoned. The abandoned towns, and facilities look like scenes from Star Wars or a dystopian movie.

At the end of the trip, visitors can spend 15 minutes down by the blood-red river, but should be careful not to touch the water, as with such high mineral content and low ph, this water is toxic. No ordinary animals live in it. However, some micro-organisms have been found by scientists which are able to survive in such an extreme environment. Because of this, and the features of this ecosystem, NASA and the Spanish Astrobiology Research center are studying all this as part of the exploration of subsurface life in Mars.

Reservations should be made beforehand -- the website has an email address through which reservations can be made. The tour is in Spanish but detailed translations in English are given out in leaflets. Tickets should be picked up in the Mining Museum in the town Minas de Rio Tinto.

There is also the Mining Museum which is fascinating, and a well-stocked museum shop. The access to the mines themselves is 5 kilometers away.

Also, make a short visit to the Barrio Ingles, the village for the officials of the company. It is a typical English village (the mines were British owned), with the houses built in that style, with a club, a bar, and a chapel. Casa 21 or House no. 21 which is right up the parking area just off the road used to be the house for the head of the company's operations. It is now a museum and can be visited.

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Close to La Rábida monastery, on the Río Tinto estuary, is the the Muelle de las Carabelas. This is a museum and exhibition dedicated to Columbus's voyage to the New World, complete with life-size replicas of Columbus's three ships, The Niña, The Pinta and The Santa María. The three reproduction of the ships were built in 1992 especially for the 500th anniversary celebrations of Columbus's voyage of discovery to the New World. The outdoor exhibition also has a reproduction of the village of Palos de la Frontera where Columbus set sail from. The three ships are moored on an artificial lake and on the far side of the lake is a representation of the land of the Americas with models of Native American huts and people.
There is also a museum detailing various aspects of Columbus's life along with audio-visual presentations.

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Huelva's main claim to fame centres around Christopher Columbus who sailed from just outside Huleva on his voyage of dicovery. So it is not surprising to find a huge stone monument of Christopher Columbus (Monumento a Colón) situated at the Punta de Sebo, near to the confluence of the Odiel and Tinto rivers. The monument symbolically faces west towards America.
The monument was inaugurated in 1929 and was designed by the American Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and was constructed between 1928-1929.

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The La Rábida Monastery also boasts beautiful botanical gardens leading from the carpark up to the main monastery building. The gardens contain some beautiful and unusual species of plants and shrubs. There is also a monument dedicated to Columbus in the garden. The monument is a statue of Columbus.